


Three and a Half Times Alcor said the L-Word, and How Toby Reacted

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 14:05:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4103650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, Dipper can talk and Toby can hear.</p><p>And boy, does this bring problems.</p><p>Children. You raise them and feed 'em, and what do you get in return? Just heartbreak!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three and a Half Times Alcor said the L-Word, and How Toby Reacted

The first time it happened, it was while they were _pretending_.

 _Pretending_ to be a _nice_ , _quiet_ two-person _family_ , that is. Thought Toby didn’t think, didn’t _knew_ they were pretending. His inner demon could’ve jumped in any moment, but it hadn’t shown yet, and hence, Dipper was forced to continue with the charade.

‘’What a nice boy you have, Mr Pines,’’ had said the old teacher, and smiled at Toby – who at fourteen, was the same height as her. ‘’And he probably loves you, doesn’t he? Does Mr Pines love you, little Toby?’’

Alcor almost spat out whatever he was drinking, if it weren’t because he wasn’t drinking anything. ‘’Yes, Miss, I love him,’’ he said, in a hurried tone. ‘’Shall we go?’’, he asked Toby.

‘’…Sure,’’ was Toby’s answer.

_[When they were outside the building, an awkward silence ensued. ‘’Wereyouserious?’’ asked Toby quickly, a brief light of... was it hope? in his face._

_‘’No,’’ answered Dipper, ‘’and I don’t want to be. But I’ve got a cover to keep.’’_

_Toby’s face darkened.]_

* * *

 

The second time it happened, it has been because of tiny, small Mizar. She still a toddler, cuteness and toothy grins, but she would soon be a shining, shimmering star of her own on her twin’s constellation.

‘’Dad,’’ she’d said with a smile, ‘’Do you love me?’’

‘’Of course I do, little star,’’ he’d said with a smile, glancing at her from his current position, ~~trying to do~~ making dinner.

‘’And do you love Toby?’’ she’d said next, quick as a fox. Alcor almost jumped up in surprise.

‘’S-sure, Mad, I love him too’’ he’d stuttered, and glanced to the kid – to the demon - to him. Toby, at the side, looked amused.

_[Later on, after dinner, Maddie had pulled him to the side and said, ‘’Were you serious, Dad, about loving Toby?’’ – he’d said no. Her only answer was, ‘’Well, I guess. But if it’s because of a grudge you have with him, don’t get angry. I don’t think he ever did something bad to you.’’_

_Dipper had been tempted to say that he stole his life, but stopped just in time. And when he wondered, a long time after that, if he’d made the right choice, he decided he did; Mizar had been as wise as usual, even when she was small, and he was being childish, even being, at the time, more than one thousand years old.]_

* * *

 

The third time, he was worried, with reason.

Maddie had come home at three AM, clutching a knocked-out Toby in her hands, and bruised like there was no tomorrow. She’d always been bullied at school, _(like a normal ‘’nerd’’ or ‘’freak’’, someone who was intelligent or had a gift)_, but since that little idiot Mars had moved nearby, she’d started coming from school with bruises.

‘’Mars. His parents… cultists… Gr’a’n¿elartuang the Childsouler. He threatened me… summoning him. Toby fought him’’ she’d spat out, panting, obviously tired.

‘’God fu̷̸͞ck͞͏in̶̢g͘ _d̛̀̕͠ą͟͝͏͟m̡͏͟͢ǹ_ ҉ ̸͟i̧͏̧̡̛t̨͟, Madds,’’ he answered, stunned. She flinched at the demonic undertone of his voice and plopped her body and Toby’s on the sofa. ‘’I’ll go get the medicine kit,’’ he added, biting his lip _(stop, Dipper, it’s been only half a year since you told her the… demon thing, she’s still going to freak out with your Bill-voice);_ Maddie nodded, and asked if she could go to her bedroom, since she was really tired _(such an early bird; few Mizars were like her)_.

When Alcor came back with the kit, he stopped. Toby was pale… so pale. His breathing was not exactly the best, and a thought crossed his mind for a second.

**_And what if he dies?_ **

He half-expected himself to cheer happily, but instead he felt... numb. A tear – a golden tear – started forming in his eye, and he quickly wiped it. ‘’He’s _Bill,_ ’’ he muttered under his breath; he could not feel… sad for the thing that had ruined his life. _(And ended it.)_

He picked up the kit _(somehow it’d ended up on the floor; stop being so clumsy, Dipper M. Pines, and try to not drop things)_ and opened it on the coffee table.

Bandages. Desinfectant. Miss May’s Magical Medicare (rub it on the wound, it’ll close immediately! _Flesh wounds only, thought)._

Thirty minutes later, Toby woke up, drenched in sweat, smelling like some weird kind of salt, his body numb and hurting in equal parts, a dream demon hugging him, and the faint smell of smoke on his shoulder; he didn’t have to look to see the teardrop.

‘’I love you,’’ hiccupped Alcor the Dreambender, Devourer of Souls, Destroyer of Lands, Protector of Children, Sheperd of the Flock.

‘’Love you too, Dad,’’ said Toby, and hugged him back. It only made him cry harder, yes, but Tobias knew it was a good cry.

_[When he asked Alcor if he had been serious, Alcor had blushed to the point of his face looking like a gold nugget, and Toby’s ability to smell went MIA for a week.]_

* * *

 But everything ended. Even lives. Even funerals.

Alcor hugged the small tombstone, completely white, but stained with so many demon tears that with a bit of help from Grunkle Stan it’d pass as golf leaf _(don't think of Stan, don't think of your family)_. The tombstone felt cold, cold, cold. _(So cold, Dipper thought. Death is cold, tombs are cold. Warmth was in vacations.)_

He was absolutely devastated. His heart physically ached.

The world was gray – not white-hot pain, like Mabel, not a numbing darkness, like Henry.

He couldn’t be gone, he couldn’t. He’s Bill, he reminded himself, he’s Bill. He was Bill. Bill. He had to concentrate in that fact, but he couldn’t.

_Toby was gone. His son was gone._

**_He was gone._ **

Alcor opened his eyes –the world was still gray.

‘’I love you. I loved you’’ he managed to say, choking back tears.

Somewhere in his head, a thought popped up. ( _Weren’t you used to this? Weren’t you used to cry? To pain? To death?_ )

 _[Every death was different. Wendies’ deathes gave him a sudden shower of deadly adrenaline, as they normally died in a daredevil-esque way, fighting against someone. Sooses gave him a burst of anger,  a urge to break everything. Hanks were dark red, like a coal, with Dipper’s heart thumping on his chest. Willows gave him a sensation of no, she can’t be dead, she’s there, she’s okay, can’t you see, everything is lying, conspirating against you, she’s alive. Acacias were… it felt like being ripped in half, like Death’s hands had gripped your heart and broke it in half, as easy as if it was the most delicate, antique, spider-webbed silk. Gideons were like when you were told ten people died in a car accident in a country you’ve never been to, like Australia, or Japan; you didn’t care enough to feel pain, but you were just in the border to feel it._ _And the Stans… One was cold. One was hot; one was red, one was blue._

_Because death hurt._

_It always did.]_

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my tumblr, pepitoscat.tumblr.com (on the catwrite tag, pepitoscat.tumblr.com/tagged/catwrite).


End file.
